JS Bach

[Philip Daniel]

Fellow friends!
Discuss the genius of Bach, his life, his influence, and his greatest works.
Best Wishes,
Philip Daniel

[Chozart]

k I'm keeping this short cuz i'm still at school. lol.
so here's some stuff on my opinion:

although not the creator of, he significantly revolutionized the use of counterpoint ~ influenced other composers of his era and time on.
this can be seen in nearly all his works (ex: of course, the sinfonias), and other composers who incorporated it into their own style such as Beethoven and Mozart.

Bach was a true genius, probably "the" composer one thinks of when thinking about the Baroque period.
He wrote music which evokes emotions of both happiness and melancholiness. That I think is something trully amazing.

[Philip Daniel]

In many ways, it could be said that Bach devoted his entire life and talent to reaching out to mankind. I myself cannot find enough superlatives for him. In my opinion, music owes as much to him as religion to its founder. His organ music blended science with poetry, technique with emotion, and virtuosity with nobility of thought as has none other, before or since. His inspired cantatas give testimony to the fact that music can be both deeply personal and meaningful to the world. He vitalized the polyphonic music of the past with the passion and humanity of his own spirit. He is a titan of western art who brought every single form he touched to its ultimate development and his mastery of compositional techniques has never equaled. No other composer has had the capacity to realize to such an extent all the possibilities in a given musical situation. His music is absolute, it is beyond all praise, and it dwarfs all that precedes and follows with the beauty of perfection, order, and balance. Bach has excited unique devotion on the part of his colleagues. Among symphony buffs there is a Mahler cult, a Bruckner cult, a Mozart cult, a Beethoven cult, and in France a Berlioz cult. But among composers there is a Bach cult. I assert that his artistic powers were on such an immeasurably higher plane than those who preceded him that at his bidding music seems to have at once stepped out of childishness and stepped into maturity. He is the musical bible to all musicians. If an anti-Bach school exists, it is hidden in the hills or in the closets, as secret as the circles that worship Satan. No composer did as much or went as far in perfecting the existing forms of music. All who followed had to seek new mountains. One of his works, the Mass in B Minor, is frequently called the greatest musical composition. But even without it, many will argue that no other composer has contributed so much as he to sacred vocal music. In the instrumental field, sonatas and partitas for violin are frequently held to be among the finest of solo string works. Many view the Bradenburg Concertos as the supreme examples of the concerto grosso. Bach was the last of the great religious artists and the all-time master of the fugue. It is clearly the consensus of the professionals that his music is the most noble and majestic of all. Although not an inventor of new musical forms, he did things with existing ones that no one had conceived of, and did them better than anyone since, setting his own agenda and establishing new standards for every musical form of his time except opera and symphony. His techniques and suggestions, developed by Gluck, Haydn, & Mozart and further developed by Beethoven, opened up new horizons of music for all time.

[Philip Daniel]

In many ways, it could be said that Bach devoted his entire life and talent to reaching out to mankind. I myself cannot find enough superlatives for him. In my opinion, music owes as much to him as religion to its founder. His organ music blended science with poetry, technique with emotion, and virtuosity with nobility of thought as has none other, before or since. His inspired cantatas give testimony to the fact that music can be both deeply personal and meaningful to the world. He vitalized the polyphonic music of the past with the passion and humanity of his own spirit. He is a titan of western art who brought every single form he touched to its ultimate development and his mastery of compositional techniques has never been equaled. No other composer has had the capacity to realize to such an extent all the possibilities in a given musical situation. His music is absolute, it is beyond all praise, and it dwarfs all that precedes and follows with the beauty of perfection, order, and balance. Bach has excited unique devotion on the part of his colleagues. Among symphony buffs there is a Mahler cult, a Bruckner cult, a Mozart cult, a Beethoven cult, and in France a Berlioz cult. But among composers there is a Bach cult. I assert that his artistic powers were on such an immeasurably higher plane than those who preceded him that at his bidding music seems to have at once stepped out of childishness and stepped into maturity. He is the musical bible to all musicians. If an anti-Bach school exists, it is hidden in the hills or in the closets, as secret as the circles that worship Satan. No composer did as much or went as far in perfecting the existing forms of music. All who followed had to seek new mountains. One of his works, the Mass in B Minor, is frequently called the greatest musical composition. But even without it, many will argue that no other composer has contributed so much as he to sacred vocal music. In the instrumental field, sonatas and partitas for violin are frequently held to be among the finest of solo string works. Many view the Bradenburg Concertos as the supreme examples of the concerto grosso. Bach was the last of the great religious artists and the all-time master of the fugue. It is clearly the consensus of the professionals that his music is the most noble and majestic of all. Although not an inventor of new musical forms, he did things with existing ones that no one had conceived of, and did them better than anyone since, setting his own agenda and establishing new standards for every musical form of his time except opera and symphony. His techniques and suggestions, developed by Gluck, Haydn, & Mozart and further developed by Beethoven, opened up new horizons of music for all time.

Is my post above too long?

[Chozart]

no, but putting occassional caesuras (lol although normally for reference to verse, I like the word ) would have been nice..

anyway, Bach sure was amazing..

question: was he truly the last of the great religious artists?
perhaps you are referring to strictly religious, in an archaic sense.. because I've read that Mozart, too, (to an extent) was religious despite his frivolous and often bellicose behaviour..

anyway j/w

[beethoven]

The three Bs. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms. My favourite composers. Bach is the ultimate master of counterpoint, a great influence on Beethoven's 3rd and last style of writing, and his fugues. Brahms was the next big counterpointist after Bach, just look at his symphonies.

[Philip Daniel]

The three Bs. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms. My favourite composers. Bach is the ultimate master of counterpoint, a great influence on Beethoven's 3rd and last style of writing, and his fugues. Brahms was the next big counterpointist after Bach, just look at his symphonies.

Handel, I believe, was almost as great a contrapuntist as Bach, much greater than Brahms, who nevertheless was quite skilled in all areas of musical composition. Handel, however, is better known for his use of sparse musical resources to achieve great effect, and in this way precedes Beethoven similarly.

[beethoven]

Oh, yes. Handel was really great. His water music, his operas, his Mass. They are all great. Poor man, he was blind in his last 9 years.

[Philip Daniel]

Oh, yes. Handel was really great. His water music, his operas, his Mass. They are all great. Poor man, he was blind in his last 9 years.

Interesting to note is that the ophthalmologist, John Taylor, who performed surgery on Handel's eyes also performed surgery on the eyes of Bach and the author Edward Gibbon; all three became completely blind after the surgery .

[PianistSk8er]

Oh, yes. Handel was really great. His water music, his operas, his Mass. They are all great. Poor man, he was blind in his last 9 years.

Meh, I don't feel particularily bad for Handel, he got payed the equivalent of 1500$ a year while Bach was getting about 80. This is not to say that he is a bad composer, the Messiah is quite amazing! But I don't like how Bach was composing such great music and barely got much recognition outside of the Church. Also, they both got blind, so don't forget that either.

PianistSk8er

[Max]

In many ways, it could be said that Bach devoted his entire life and talent to reaching out to mankind. I myself cannot find enough superlatives for him. In my opinion, music owes as much to him as religion to its founder. His organ music blended science with poetry, technique with emotion, and virtuosity with nobility of thought as has none other, before or since. His inspired cantatas give testimony to the fact that music can be both deeply personal and meaningful to the world. He vitalized the polyphonic music of the past with the passion and humanity of his own spirit. He is a titan of western art who brought every single form he touched to its ultimate development and his mastery of compositional techniques has never been equaled. No other composer has had the capacity to realize to such an extent all the possibilities in a given musical situation. His music is absolute, it is beyond all praise, and it dwarfs all that precedes and follows with the beauty of perfection, order, and balance. Bach has excited unique devotion on the part of his colleagues. Among symphony buffs there is a Mahler cult, a Bruckner cult, a Mozart cult, a Beethoven cult, and in France a Berlioz cult. But among composers there is a Bach cult. I assert that his artistic powers were on such an immeasurably higher plane than those who preceded him that at his bidding music seems to have at once stepped out of childishness and stepped into maturity. He is the musical bible to all musicians. If an anti-Bach school exists, it is hidden in the hills or in the closets, as secret as the circles that worship Satan. No composer did as much or went as far in perfecting the existing forms of music. All who followed had to seek new mountains. One of his works, the Mass in B Minor, is frequently called the greatest musical composition. But even without it, many will argue that no other composer has contributed so much as he to sacred vocal music. In the instrumental field, sonatas and partitas for violin are frequently held to be among the finest of solo string works. Many view the Bradenburg Concertos as the supreme examples of the concerto grosso. Bach was the last of the great religious artists and the all-time master of the fugue. It is clearly the consensus of the professionals that his music is the most noble and majestic of all. Although not an inventor of new musical forms, he did things with existing ones that no one had conceived of, and did them better than anyone since, setting his own agenda and establishing new standards for every musical form of his time except opera and symphony. His techniques and suggestions, developed by Gluck, Haydn, & Mozart and further developed by Beethoven, opened up new horizons of music for all time.

Is my post above too long?

No, but paragraphing is nice!

I love Bach, especially the WTC. I love being able to start playing a piece without even playing a note, by following the voices and seperating them in your mind.

The Brandenburg Concerti are something special, possibly my favourite ensemble piece (well, to call it orchestral is a bit false)

[aMaDeUs]

bach! the titan of western music!
with mozart and beethoven are the true immortals!
i love his passions: mattheu and johhanes.

[Apeiron]

bach! the titan of western music!
with mozart and beethoven are the true immortals!
I love his passions: mattheu and johhanes.

Ewwwww I hate Mozart. How dare you compare him to Beethoven and Bach (Stirring up conversation)

[jcarson]

I feel as if Bach is an underrated composer. Outside of the musical world he isn't well known like Mozart and Beethoven. However he should be because has mastered every type of musical mood and type. Throughout the St. Matthew Passion, he demonstrates his mastery over choral and orchestral music as he guides his listeners on a very intriguing journey through Jesus' death. In the Goldberg Variations, Well-tempered clavier,etc, he shows his genius of the keyboard. Not to mention the hundreds of fugues which require a divine intellect to create so beautifully. Anyone who knows anything about music should appreciate Johann Sebastian Bach as the master.